The telecommunications industry has developed a variety of servers, such as voice response servers, for use in connection with conventional tip-ring, circuit-based telephone systems. For example, voice messaging servers that present a prerecorded greeting to a caller when the telephone of a subscriber is not answered are in wide use. These voice messaging servers typically allow the caller to record an audio message for later retrieval by the subscriber. Existing voice messaging servers may also provide a variety of additional functions, such as the ability to contact an operator, or in connection with certain cellular telephones or paging systems, to page the subscriber. Other types of voice response servers include automated systems for interacting with callers to receive or distribute information. Most such voice response servers, including voice messaging servers, are adapted for use with traditional telephony techniques, which employ dedicated circuits for transmitting data between the calling telephone and the called telephone or voice response server.
In addition to conventional analog or digital telephone circuits, audible information can be transmitted over computer networks, such as the Internet. In general, computer networks divide data into data packets for transmission to the intended recipient over communications channels capable of simultaneously carrying data to many other recipients. The transmission of audible data in packets according to standards such as the Internet protocol (IP) telephony standards (e.g., H.323, H.245 and H.225), eliminates the need to provide a dedicated physical circuit between the endpoints of a communications link and is therefore more efficient than conventional telephony techniques. Accordingly, Internet telephony type systems are increasingly common.
In order to provide communications servers for use with Internet telephony type systems, vendors have developed servers compatible with such systems. However, such systems are typically not compatible with conventional tip-ring telephony systems. In addition, servers developed for use with Internet telephony systems are typically unable to re-use server hardware and software components previously developed for conventional telephony systems. Accordingly, communications servers for use with Internet telephony systems have limited applicability, and are expensive to develop.
Conventional communications servers for use in connection with Internet telephony do not allow for existing, circuit-based voice response servers to be adapted for use with Internet telephony. Therefore, although systems exist for providing communications servers for use in connection with Internet telephony, vendors must purchase entirely new servers. Additionally, communications servers have heretofore not been capable of operating in connection with both conventional tip-ring, circuit-based telephony and Internet-based telephony systems.